Record-Breaking Attendance at DFI’s
40th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations

The 40th DFI Annual Conference on Deep Foundations, held October 12-15 in Oakland, Calif., had record-breaking attendance. More than 900 attendees from around the world attended technical presentations, 135+ exhibits of innovative products and services, technical committee meetings, poster presentations, networking events and the annual awards ceremony.

The theme of the 40th Annual Conference was “Four Decades of Shaping Our Future,” and the event opened with a presentation of DFI’s history and included a “museum-like” history display available for viewing throughout the conference.

A highlight of the event was the Mega Projects session, which focused on national infrastructure challenges, California’s High Speed Rail plans, the Transbay Transit Center and the Panama Canal Pacific Access Channel.

Guest speakers at the conference included Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff; Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane, who was the DFI Hal Hunt lecturer; and Professor Kenji Ishihara from Chuo University, a world-renowned expert on earthquake geotechnology, who delivered a featured presentation, “Destruction of Seawalls and Coastal Dikes by Tsunami During the 2011 East-Japan Earthquake and Their Restoration.”

An inaugural event at the conference was the Legends Award Ceremony, which honored practitioners that have made significant contributions and advancements to the research, design, construction, manufacturing and use of deep foundations. The recipients were Contractor Legend – Charles J. Berkel, chairman of the board of Berkel & Company Contractors, Inc. (posthumously); Engineering Legend – George J. Tamaro, P.E., consultant with Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers; and Manufacturer/Supplier Legend – Davide Trevisani, president and founder of TREVI Group.

Winners of DFI’s most prestigious awards were celebrated at the Awards Reception and Banquet. The Outstanding Project Award (OPA) was presented to Caltrans and the T.Y. Lin International/ Moffatt & Nichol Joint Venture for their work on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge New East Span. The Distinguished Service Award, DFI’s highest award to an individual, was presented to Bernie Hertlein, FACI, M.ASCE, of GEI Consultants and a DFI Trustee. The 2015 C. William Bermingham Innovation Award was presented to the Gerald Desmond Bridge “Cast-in-Drilled-Hole Grout Delivery System” SFI JV team, which included Shimmick Construction Co. Inc., FCC Construction S.A. and Impregilo S.p.A. The $5,000 prize was donated by the Bermingham Award winners to DFI’s Educational Trust. Also announced at the banquet was the $100,000 donation by Condon Johnson and Associates to create a new scholarship fund honoring the late Michael “Mike” Condon for his contributions to the deep foundations industry.

Other activities included a photo scavenger hunt through the conference mobile app, awarding the winner a free conference registration to next year’s conference in New York City; a tour of the area for the attendees’ companions; and activities for high school and university students, which included a shake table demonstration and competition.

Visit www.deepfoundations2015.org to access photos from the event.